20 DAYS In INDIA - Delhi
My interest in India began in 1999 when I attended a conference in Boston USA on the theme “Spirituality & Healing in Medicine” run by Herbert Benson’s Mind-Body Institute. One of the many speakers was Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University. I had been going through some transitions in my Christian spirituality and was fascinated by her ideas, expressed well in her book Encountering God – A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras. Prof Eck has extensive experience of India having lived for a number of years in Banaras (Varanasi) and travelled extensively.
I had been opened up from a very narrow sectarian Christian faith into an exploratory spiritual journey by some direct spiritual experiences that I had, suggesting something of the unity of all things. Diana Eck helped me to realise that people of other faith traditions are also able to experience the divine and she left me with a curiosity about that most holy of India places – Banaras or Varanasi.
Thanks to my son’s itinerant lifestyle I had the opportunity to visit India, including Varanasi, eventually in 2019.
First stop was Delhi, arriving in to the smells and haze of a city just having celebrated the festival of Diwali, which celebrates the triumph of good over evil.
So a few images from India…
Where we’ll stay
Hazrat Nizamuddin – the mausoleum that is dedicated to the Sufi saint Khawaja Nizamuddin Auliya who lived in the early eras of 1238-1325 CE.
The Jama Masjid
The narrow streets of the old town
